A Friend in Need: Reawakening
by ChaosSpartan575
Summary: Vetrova Atiniir is your average Mandalorian bounty hunter with heavy emphasis on the average. She's not out to be the best, but certainly not the worst, which is a good way to keep out of sight and make some creds. So when she meets a friend she had once thought dead, she is dragged into a whole mess of problems that seem to stem from this chance encounter.
1. Chapter 1

**A Friend in Need: Reawakening**

**By ChaosSpartan575**

A/N: Alright, this is my first story that doesn't involve taking a game or games and altering events or mashing them together into some sort of AU. This is my own story set in the Star Wars verse, set before A New Hope. Anyway, sorry for any mistakes in advance. Reviews and Criticism are welcome.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stars Wars, Disney does. George Lucas is delusional if he still believes that he has a say in anything that goes on now. I do own the OCs so i guess that's something.

Summary: Vetrova Atiniir is your average Mandalorian bounty hunter with heavy emphasis on the average. She's not out to be the best, but certainly not the worst, which is a good way to keep out of sight and make some creds. So when she meets a friend she had once thought dead, she is dragged into a whole mess of problems that seem to stem from this chance encounter.

**Khoonda, Dantooine**

Techla sat there, bored out of her mind as her mother sold fruit from the stand on the side of the street. Many people, both human and alien walked by, uninterested or too busy to notice. Mother's fruit wasn't bad, her father imported the fruit on his ship every week and they would sell it throughout the rest of the week. Today however, business was slow and aside from the usual regulars no one seemed to want fruit today. "Mom, can we call it a day," she groaned.

Her mother rolled her eyes at the young pre-teen, "No, we haven't sold enough fruit yet."

Techla let out a groan and leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees wishing that she had a datapad with a Holo-net connection. She shifted her right lekku over her shoulder and sighed. A patrol of Stormtroopers walked by slowly patrolling the area, looking for anything illicit happening in this sector which could be anything they felt was illicit today. The Twi'lek let out a breath she had no idea she was holding as they walked out of sight.

Things seemed to slow down as the afternoon began to fade and she saw that her mother looked a bit tired as well, perhaps they would be going home sooner today. That was when Techla noticed her out of the corner of her eye, the Mandalorian woman. The armor and the distinct t-shaped visor on her dome shaped helm with a rangefinder sticking up out of it. The armor was a dull black with dark purple and red accents. Scratch marks littered and peppered its surface. A pair of heavy blasters graced the outside of her thighs with old rifle and long sword on her back. Techla was always told to avoid Mandalorians whenever possible, because whenever one appeared, gunfire and explosions tended to follow or so her father claimed.

It took a few moments to realize that the Mando was walking this way toward her mother's stand. Techla felt some disappointment when the woman turned to look at a different kiosk with filled many different droid parts. She was actually curious about the woman and wanted to know more. The mando shook her head, displeased with the contents of the kiosk and continued toward her mother's fruit stand.

Techla noticed something changed in the way the Mando walked. It was less rigid and somewhat more at ease from what she noticed earlier. The sudden change confused her until all hell broke loose when a blaster bolt whizzed toward the back of the mando's head. She dodged and drew both her pistols and fired at the attacker with controlled accuracy wary of the many civilians around him.

The other attacker had no such worry and fired as he pleased forcing the woman to take a shot to her chestplate to cover a civilian causing her to almost trip and stumble.

Techla's Mother grabbed her and they hid behind their fruit stand as a stray shot or two sailed toward them exploding a couple pieces of fruit on their stand. Techla peeked out a bit to watch the fight only see the other Mandalorian in red and blue armor launch himself in the air via the jetpack mounted to his back. He then launched himself at the Mando woman firing his blaster rifle at her yelling in their strange tongue.

The woman backflipped away as he landed next to her, firing when she returned to her feet, perhaps somewhat before in what seemed like a practiced motion, winging to man in the bicep under his left shoulder plate making him stumble back a step. She holstered her blasters and drew a straight sword with a slightly curved point which was sheathed under her rifle. The other mandalorian drew his blade as well.

They circled each other for a moment until the woman made the first move rolling and slicing upward only to have it parried by the other mando who countered with a side swung swing of his own which the woman danced around slicing behind his knee. Techla cringed when she saw the blood, but found she could not look away from the spectacle. He hobbled a bit trying a desperately to overwhelm his opponent with a series of quick strikes which were dodged rather easily by the woman.

She side stepped again and delivered the final strike along his neck. Blood sprayed at his throat was cut open. He fell to the ground, dead, blood was beginning pool under the body on to the sandy gravel. The mando wiped the blood of her blade with a rag from one of her pockets and sheathed it again. She then bent down to go through the man's gear as if looking for something. She shook her head as muttered something in her bazaar tongue. Then, as if the whole exchange has never happened, she sauntered over to her mother's stand, her armor still peppered with a few dots of the other mando's blood.

She leaned to the side a bit and she waited for Techla's mother to stand. Her mother's body shook as she looked past the woman to the dead body on the ground only few meters away. It was hard to read the woman's expression under the t-shaped visor as she tilted her head. The mando shifted her stance a bit and rubbed the back of her neck awakardly, "So… you got any jogun fruit?"

Her mother shook her head, "Sorry, all sold out this morning."

The Mandalorian shook her head and muttered something to herself before looking back her mother, "Well thanks anyway." She waved politely and patted Techla's head she walked in front of her. Techla watched with awe as the Mandalorian disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

After the attack, Vetrova got her _shebs_ out of the area. Other than the massive amount of Stormtroppers that would come to investigate, there was a rule that about the Deathwatch, the radical Mandalorian group that just attacked her. Where there was one, there about five more in the shadows prepared to strike. She couldn't take on that many, she was confident she'd win, but not without getting some form of injury. The man that attacked her was reckless even for Deathwatch. This meant that the man she killed in the market was probably new to their cause and hadn't had much training. Poor _or'dinii was _sent to ascertain her skill level before the real super commandos tried to kill her.

The hanger where her ship was stationed, was not far and she began to walk at a brisk pace swinging through side streets and alley's the small town boasted to shake off any pursuers she knew were out there. This little farming planet was hardly worth her time, luckily, her business here was handled for the most part. She had already acquired her bounty and had him stored on her ship. She would have left earlier, but felt a trip to the local market could be worth her while.

However, if the attackers were any good they'd know she was skipping town the moment after she was attacked. She wasn't stupid enough to lead them directly to her hanger, but the sooner she got out of here, the better. She was looking forward to getting back home, her boyfriend would no doubt appreciate her return._ I just hope that he hadn't got himself locked up by the Imperials, again,_ she thought.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw that the spaceport was in sight, just as crowded as ever. She ducked the Imperial patrols. No doubt they would be aware of her little skirmish in the market. She kept her eyes moving, and checking the 360 degree camera in her helmet for movement. Seeing nothing she continued into the hanger where her ship was parked.

It wasn't the only thing parked there as five men and women in Mandalorian gear stood waiting for her. She sighed, she should have expected this. Her fingers brushed by her blasters, waiting for them to make the first move. The head of the group, a woman in green and gray armor nodded to the rest of the group. Two drew vibroblades and charged. While the woman and the two remaining commandos drew a rifle or their own side arms and began firing.

"Osik," she cursed and drew one of her blasters and started strafing to the right, firing on the blade wielders charging in on her. She dived behind a sack of crates as her ranged foes fired at her. She holstered her blaster and pulled out her blaster rifle. She popped up and fired at the two Deathwatch soldiers with blades charging at her as they came at her. She managed to hit one in the arm and he pulled back. She ducked behind the crate as the other deathwatch soldier jumped over it landing in front of her on the other side. Vet didn't wait and stood up parrying a sword strike with her rifle and stepped within woman's reach, jammed her rifle barrel under the woman's helmet and pulled the trigger. There was a brief flash under the woman's t-visor and she fell to the ground, dead.

She stumbled when she was shot in the back, her _beskar_ back plate taking the brunt of the strike. She dropped back behind the crates as they were peppered with more fire. She stood back up and fired at the woman who was clearly the leader of this strike team. The woman was forced back behind one the ships three struts as Vetrova herself was knocked on the ground on her right her flank, she cursed herself for not remembering the other blade wielder. He had his sword raised and brought it down. Vet rolled out the way pulling out her pistol and firing at the man as he stabbed downward. She was surprised to see that the bolts went through what apparently just durasteel and the blaster bolts cut through the armor with some effort, but he still fell over, lifeless.

She scrambled to her blaster rifle which had fell out from behind the crates when she was knocked over. She reached to grab for it, only to be shot at from another of her attackers. She cursed and pulled out her other pistol and popped up, a pistol in each hand and fired at the one of the attackers as he jetpacked to scaffolding meant for climbing up the top of ships to work on repairs. He was caught unawares and missed the platform. He fell to the ground hard.

She popped out to fire on him as he got up slowly and the others laid down covering fire as she was about to finish him forcing her back down. The bolts stopped coming and then she heard the roar of jetpacks. She prepared herself and waited for them to fly over the crates, guns blazing. When no one came for her she chanced a look only to see nothing, not even the soldier who had fallen. She kept her blasters at the ready as she walked out, checking every shadow and running scans for life signs via her helmet HUD. Finding nothing, she picked up her rifle and holstered it. She checked around her ship for any tracers. It was a beat up old Mandalmotors freighter from the Clone Wars. It was long, and pointed with dart like wings on each side. It worked well enough. She then checked her ships security for any unauthorized entry.

Seeing none she entered, but kept her pistol drawn. Seeing no one right away she holstered her pistol. She walked by a ray shielded cage containing a very bored looking Zabrak male. Vetrova shook her head and went to the cockpit to start the engines. They fired up just fine and she left the spaceport. Once she left the atmosphere she hit a button that electrified the hull. A little gizmo she had made in Keldabe, the Mandalorian capital. Hopefully it would fry the hull of any tracers.

She took off her helmet letting her black-crimson hair fall down to where it stopped just past her chin. She kept her eyes on the screen looking at her DRADIS for any signs of attacking DeathWatch vessels as she made the jump to hyperspace. As the blue and white lights of the hyperspace tunnel appeared, she leaned back only flinch as the pain from the bolt from earlier impacted. This reminded of the one on her chest. While she got the bacta patches out of her medbay, a single question graced her thoughts, why did they retreat and leave her alive? That wasn't like the DeathWatch. Something felt wrong. For now she would just turn in the bounty on Nal Hutta and get back to Mandalore where the deathwatch wouldn't dare attack, right? She had a feeling there was more to it however.

* * *

**Unknown Ship Mandalmotors Carrier**

The deathwatch woman in gray and green armor stomped into the captain's quarters of the Deathwatch ship. She gave a brief salute, "Sir why did you stop us from killing that Mando bitch?" she demanded. One could almost see her expression underneath her helm by the anger in her voice.

Their commander, a man in blue armor with graying hair and a light beard, turned from the window to face her, "I have my reason's."

"We could have taken…" she growled, but she was cut short as he held up a hand, silencing her.

"Just trust that I knew she was too much for you and your men to handle. Now leave me, we have other more pressing matters to attend to then one pretender we happened upon." He dismissed the woman who stormed away in a huff. He walked to the holo-projector near his desk. He switched it on. He rubbed his chin as he watched the mando woman fight off the first assassin in the market. Her blade style had the familiar Mandalorian style mixed with other styles. Her footing, however betrayed another style he hadn't seen in years. One he knew well. He smiled. This woman might do more damage to the pretenders on Manda'yaim alive rather than dead, but he would need more than just fancy moves and footwork to fully ascertain her value. Then again if the attack on Manda'lor's life and Keldabe that he heard whispers about was true, it would have to wait for now.

* * *

**Nal Hutta Bounty Office**

Vetrova jabbed the Zabrak man in the back with her rifle forcing him along the grimy road that bordered the swamplands of Nal hutta. The reality of his situation had set in and he was begging and offering credits he didn't have. She didn't care, because she knew that it was guaranteed that the Hutts had her creds. The Zabrak had lost much composure then, sniffing and shaking. She might have felt sorry for the guy if he hadn't killed a bunch of farmers on Felucia for their spice, spice that was already contracted to the Hutts. She walked him into the bounty office and went up to the front desk.

"I have a bounty that needs collecting." The aqualish at the counter scanned the Zabrak and nodded. Two nikito guards took him from there and the aqualish handed over the creds, all three grand worth to her. She left without so much as a goodbye and returned to her ship. She found someone unexpected standing outside of her ship. She leaned to the side on one hip. "SC-139, wasn't expecting you to be here?"

The "man" in question looked at her. From first glance the droid looked like any other mando with the t-visor and red armor plates, however the lack of flightsuit in between armor plates betrayed any organic qualities it may have processed showing only wires and servos. "Greetings Vetrova Atiniir, I require transport back to Manda'yaim and wished to inquire if you might be of assistance?"

"You don't have to be so formal, S-Cee, your _vod _after all. I just wrapped up business here and was going to be heading back home as well," She gestured for him to follow as she moved past the droid to type in her key code to get on her ship, the _Forgotten. _"Besides, I had a run-in with Deathwatch, so having _you _along is more than welcome."

"Acknowledged," was all the droid said as it followed her up the ramp. The ship soon lifted off and jetted off into space once again.

* * *

A/N: The attack on Keldabe and Manda'lor is a reference to White Snow: Contention. It is part of a series of stories by Vhetin1183 which I highly recommend reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Reviews and criticism are welcome.

**A Friend in Need Ch.2**

**MandalMotors Birgaan Class Freighter Model-46s, Designation: **_The Forgotten_

SC-139, S-Cee for short, sat in the _Forgotten'_s co-pilot's seat keeping an eye in the scanners that Vet had installed on the old vessel which were just a few of the things she had on this old ship. He noticed that despite the age of the ship, it ran remarkably well albeit the horrendous amount of fuel it used, which was something he was looking into. Payment for Vetrova giving him a ride, it was the least he could do since she refused take credits for helping her _vod._

While he searched the ship diagnostics, Vetrova's heart rate spiked on his medical scanners. The droid didn't react as he knew that Vetrova had nightmares about a childhood trauma that she refused to talk out. S-Cee allowed her to keep it secret, one's past hardly mattered anymore, _Cin Vethin_ as the _Mando'ade_ referred to it as, a clean slate as anything prior to one's adoption into the ranks of the Mando'ade was forgotten.

Regardless of her past, Vet was a phenomenal bounty hunter. She had only ever once lost a contract in her long career since she turned fourteen. Ever since her Father and Mother took her on her first hunt she had aspired to be a decent one. However, she never took bounties over nine thousand credits. While many of Mando's would see that as laziness only by adding to the Zeltron sterotype, S-Cee found that was not the case for when she chose her targets, they were usually the slippery con-artists and embezzlers that led her on many chases and hunts from places like city underbellies to swamps and deserts which to her was a challenge.

S-Cee was about to check the scanners once more when the door to the captains quarter's whished open revealing a very groggy Vetrova. With her sleep addled eyes she walked over the navigation counsel at typed in a different course while barely even looking at the screen. They dropped out of hyperspace at a lane change and the new coordinates kicked in sending them toward Coruscant. S-Cee would have inquired if Vet had not stood up and moped out the cockpit and back into her room. S-Cee was glad he had stopped trying to understand organics long ago and went back to trying to increase the _Forgotten's_ fuel efficiency.

**…**

Vetrova was exhausted as her dream kept her from getting any restful sleep. _They were always the same. She and her friends were running, trying to get away. She watched as most of her friends were shot as they were chased through Coruscant's streets until finally she herself was shot. _

That was when she woke up every time and they kept getting worse. She had no idea why. Well that wasn't entirely true and that made her even more nervous than if her assumptions about the bad dreams turned out to be correct.

She shook it off and went about her morning routine, crunches, situps and pullups on the bar on the wall next to her lockers. After that she jumped in the fresher. After drying off, she went the process of putting her armor on. She put on her faded red boots and then her black thigh plates and knee guards. She pulled her black breastplate and clipped her purple shoulder pads on. She then went to a mirror and brushed out the snags in her crimson-black hair. It was certainly odd, it was black, but gave off a crimson sheen in sunlight. It was cool as went well with her dark pink skin. She looked at herself for a moment, she was attractive which was to be expected of a zeltron, she supposed, never really had to give looks much thought when she wore a helmet most of the time.

She brought her hand up to trace the scar that ran straight back along her right cheekbone. It was years old, but it still carried a memory of that karking night. She shook her head, trying to shake the memory away for now and donned her black helm which looked out of place, it was black like her chest and armor pieces, pock marked with various scratches and blaster scores. However, the lining around the t-visor was a dull orange however. Her HUD lit up with an amber glow and she cycled through all her presets to make sure all her gear was working properly. She then donned a faded purple _kama_, a traditional Mandalorian belt-skirt that hung from the waist down to just under her knees. She threw on a pair of one her various types of gauntlets that hosted many different gadgets that helped her in her trade such as flame throwers, missile launchers, and various blades and disk launchers which she used for varying jobs.

She walked into the cockpit only to find it empty and S-Cee was nowhere to be found. She sat down and checked the navicomputer to see when the ship would exit hyperspace. It still read thirteen hours. What the _haran?_ She should have been at least a couple hours away from the Mandalore system by now. What was with the change of course? There was only one other person on this ship who could have done that.

She got up from her chair and stormed throughout the ship looking for S-Cee. She found him in the engine room. He stood up as she entered, "What the _haran, S-_Cee? Why the _haran_ did you change the navicomputer's coordinates?!"

"I did not…" S-Cee replied only to be cut off.

"Really?" she placed her hands on her hips, "Am I supposed to believe that I got up and did in my slee…" She stopped as S-Cee held up a holo that was projected out of his arm guard of her walking into the cockpit and change the coordinates herself. "pah"

"You did it in a sleep addled state." Cee said as he zoomed on her face enough to see her red eyes staring out into nothing without really moving. She shivered. Vetrova continued to watch the picture as she saw herself change the coordinates and walk to her room. She removed a hand from her hip and rubbed the forehead of her helmet.

"Great, just great, now I have to buy more fuel for this rust bucket and there goes the profit I made off the last bounty." She sighed.

"I have fixed your fuel efficiency by approximately thirty five percent," S-Cee stated in that metallic yet menacing voice of his.

Vet looked back to the droid, her helmet hiding her surprise, "What? How? I have been over everything there is to go over and haven't found anything out of sort."

"One on your fuel lines was lose and caught in between the frame casing pinching it slightly, forcing your engine to draw more fuel from the tanks as it forced the fuel through the punished hose. I secured the hose properly and made sure any others were secured as well." S-Cee explained.

Vet rubbed the back of her neck, "Thanks S-Cee, I am sorry for accusing you earlier. So does that mean we have enough fuel to possibly turn around and head back to _Manda'yiem_ because a pint of ne'tra gal doesn't sound half bad right now… or ten?"

S-Cee nodded, "Negative, a stop at a fuel depot will be required."

Vet sighed again. When the Republic fell, fuel became increasingly more regulated by the Empire. Stopping at a depot was generally a pilot's last resort as the price of fuel had nearly doubled since the empire took over. So Vetrova made point to buy fuel on-planet were it was less expensive but not by much.

"Fine, we'll go to Coruscant, and fuel up, maybe we can check the bounty board for a local bounty. Earn some extra creds since we are all the way out there? In the meantime I am going back to my room." S-Cee did not answer. Instead he just nodded his head in acknowledgement as she left.

Why was this happening to her, it had been so long and now the memories were driving her back? Back to that force-forsaken place. She hated it, this curse that she was born with. It brought about only misery. She opened the door to her quarters, pulled off her helm and threw in on the bed on the opposite side of the room. She sat down in her desk chair. She needed to take her mind off of well… everything at the moment. .

She sat down and began going through her ship logs, trying to keep herself busy, her eyes scanning datapads adding up her expenses and profit margins for the majority of the year. It wasn't her favorite task and she had been putting it off for some time. She frowned when she finished. She looked over at the chrono on the desk. Two hours was all it took. She resisted the urge to smash her head into the desk. She groaned. She looked around her cabin and cringed. She hardly ever cleaned in her room, not that there was anything to clean other than dust. She didn't have much other than her armor and weapons and some civilian clothes for special missions.

The thought had often crossed her mind and she had even considered taking up larger bounties, finally moving up to the big leagues. It wasn't that she feared to catch very dangerous bounties, they were the fun part always running and giving her a good hunt. The notoriety was a different story, nobody scrutinized a simple nobody and staying out the bigger hunters' way was a great way to seem uninteresting. The creds from the bigger scores would help greatly in buying a new ship, not that the _Forgotten_ was a bad one it was just old. The fuel line issue wasn't the first problem she had had on this ship. Once she had to actually repair the life support before she died of hypothermia as the ship lost heat. In hindsight she should have just gotten a new ship then but…

She rubbed her head as it began pain throb through her temple. Images flooded her mind, _a small café, a hooded figure sitting next to the window at a table with a steaming cup of caffa, while gazing out at the ruins of the old Jedi temple._ She released a breath as the images faded away. She leaned back, her hand still on her head as the pain faded with the vision. Something was up, the nightmares, the sleep walking and now this. All of this was happening so fast. She knew deep down what it was, what she kept buried inside her and it seemed the karking dam was breaking. It was something that never happened this bad before so she knew well that the dreaded nightmares wouldn't end until this warning vision was headed, this much she was certain. She pulled out a datapad and began searching for any cafés or diners in range of the temple ruins.

**...**

**Coruscant **

The planet has always been the center of galactic politics for millennia, even the hyperspace coordinates read (0,0,0). Vet hated this place as it was like any other city, full of crime and poverty. _Haran_, it was even beginning to put Nar Shadda to shame with the power that the criminal syndicates were now wielding. She breathed in the air in all its smog filled goodness as she walked down the ramp of her ship.

"S-Cee, you mind taking care of the fueling, I might be gone for a while. Somethings come up. I would appreciate it if you watched the ship." S-Cee nodded and walked off toward the refueling station without complaint and she made her way to the edge of the fueling pad.

Many back home wondered why she put up the droid so much on many of the jobs they worked to together on, and she couldn't blame them for wondering. To be honest, S-Cee's lack of emotion helped keep her calm. Being Zeltron, she could read the emotions of others, and was effected by others emotions as well. If a person felt happy it would rub off on her and the same was true for negative emotions as well. It did some in handy for interrogations though. So S-Cee being a droid who couldn't feel anything at all made him a good fit which is why she was going to ask him after all this weird _osik_ was over with to be her partner full time.

She hailed a taxi when she reached the edge of the pad and told the driver to drop her off about five blocks outside the Jedi temple sector at a local cantina. From there she walked to the rim of the Jedi Temple Sector. She noticed that many buildings were abandoned, most where gift shops and restaurants that had made money off tourists they came from various parts of the galaxy to see the temple. After the purge many businesses must have had to shut down due to the Jedi Temple being marked off limits and any trespasses into the temple itself where met with death.

Her research into possible places that the figure would be hiding went well and she was able to narrow down the side of the temple which the figure where the figure was viewing it from. She found an elevator and took it up to the upper levels. It wasn't hard to find the café and she walked into the doors, pushing one open. The place was dilapidated and looked to have been looted once or twice, some tables still had plates and eating utensils on them while the rest were either broken or knocked over.

Despite being in the right place, there was no sign of her mystery figure. She looked around and found the table he was supposed to be sitting at with an abandoned mug on it. She was about to dismiss this foolish trip, when she noticed the cup was full of caffa and still steaming. She drew her blasters from their holsters and she scanned around the room. She checked the three hundred and sixty degree camera in her helmet and still found nothing which made her very uneasy. She felt a presence, but before she could react however she felt a barrel of a blaster press into the back of her neck in between her armor plates. "_Shab_," she muttered. _Should have worn a gorgot or at least looked up_.

"Drop your weapons," the voice, male, ordered, "I don't know how you tracked me down hunter, but I would rather die than be turned into Imperial custody."

Vet smirked under her helm and did so letting her pistols fall, but before blasters hit the floor she sprang into action. Sweeping her elbow back and knocking the blaster from the man's hands. She swept her other fist into his face knocking his hooded head back. He recovered quickly throwing his own punch that impacted on her _beskar'gram_ chestplate. She felt her breath leave her lungs as the punch carried unnatural strength behind it. She barely dodged the next one and backflipped away pulling out her DC-17m blaster rifle and fired at the robed figure. She managed to wing his shoulder, but it did little to deter him as he jumped off a table and leapt at her. She rolled as he landed and while kneeing on one knee, fired again. She heard a pop-hiss of a weapon she knew well. The blue lightsaber deflected the shots. She growled and drew her _beskad_ knowing_ a_ blaster wouldn't do much now. She then holstered her blaster rifle quickly as she circled the Jedi. They gauged each other before finally the figure the jumped at her slicing down with his saber. She parried and twisted around beside him and caught his back swing as he turned around. Her sword held against the blade as Mandalorian Iron or_ beskar_ was one of the only materials in the galaxy to effectively block a lightsaber.

The figure jumped back and sliced a table in half. He then threw at her using the force and she ducked as both pieces passed over head and impacted on the transparisteel window, cracking it slightly where each half struck. He charged her and she ducked. She changed tactics and let go of the hilt of her blade with her offhand and caught him in the jaw with an uppercut.

He let out a surprised grunt as his hood fell back revealing his face. Vet didn't move, just stared at the man. He had pale skin, and a light beard and mustache graced his strong features. His blond hair fell a little past his shoulders. He was about her age, early to middle twenties. He glared at her and she tried to discern where she had seen him as he spoke.

"Leave hunter, let me remember my friends in peace. It is not worth your life to face a Jedi for mere credits."

She shook her head, she needed more info. Something told her she knew this man, "What's a Jedi doing so close to that cursed place anyway. The Imp's have Shadow Troopers all over the place." She nodded to the temple.

He looked back at the temple, "That is none of your concer…" She jumped at him, while he was mid-sentence knocking his saber out of his hand, and sent a roundhouse kick at his head in a blur of motion. He landed on the ground, but reached out with his arm sent her flinging back with the force. She slammed hard into the back wall, but he held her there. She tried to move as he approached with his unlit saber in his hand.

"Hunter, you made a mistake…" she didn't hear him instead focusing on her mental strength, reaching out using her own long buried connection to the blighted force.

"Let. Me. Go." A small wave exploded out from her body knocking the jedi back to the ground. She didn't hesitate and jumped on top of him planting her knee on his chest. She reached out with her arms and both her beskad and his lightsaber flew into her hands.

In his confusion he reached out and probed her through the force, "Impossible, your dead, I saw you die!"

It was her turn to be confused, "What?" He seen her die, but that would mean…

"Violet?" she pulled the blade back and started to step back. It couldn't be, there was only one other human in her group when they went to Ilum, a boy with a penchant for terrible nicknames. She saw it now, his green eyes, and the faded scar on his neck from a training accident in the courtyard.

"Crous?"


	3. Chapter 3

Reviews and Criticism are always welcome.

**A Friend in Need Ch.3**

**MandalMotors Birgaan Class Freighter:** _The Forgotten_

Crous Maugin hated flying in any sort of starship, it wasn't hyperspace, it wasn't claustrophobia, it was leaving and entering the atmosphere of a damn planet. It was how his folks were killed when a transport operator failed to do a pre-flight check while he was visiting his uncle. Ever since that day it was a fear he never got over.

He held on to the seat as the ship rattled and shifted, his knuckles white from the grip he had on the armrests. He was glad to see Vetrova and the droid focusing on the task of not letting the old ship implode, not that it would. Oh, Force what was he doing? He should have taken a public transport, but Vet insisted. Perhaps he was overreacting. Vet or Violet as he had nicknamed her when they were younglings, seemed to relax and he knew the worst had passed for now as the ship stopped rumbling.

While she got clearance to take a hyperspace route, he looked at her. She hadn't taken her helmet off the entire walk and ride back to the ship after the café incident so he had yet to see her face. He heard stories about Mandalorians, how they sold their mercenary services to the highest bidder and many were notorious bounty and Jedi hunters. How Vet ended up as one of those barbarians, he had no clue nor did he really care.

She seemed to notice something, perhaps his intense stare and she stopped what she was doing. He could see her resistance to look at him, and she went back to flying the ship. He decided to focus on her force aura. He closed his eyes and reached out only saw that she was a mess. He could almost see the tendrils radiate off her. It was so chaotic and a bit overwhelming to witness as the strands struggled to break loose. Vet had obviously been forcing her connection to stay boxed in…

"Stop it!"

He looked up confused, "What?"

"You know what," she said not even looking at him, her eyes focused on navigating the massive of amount of traffic that Coruscant saw constantly.

"Sorry." He turned his head to look out the front windows trying to focus. He needed to deliver the information he aquired on Coruscant, and using Vet to help was one of the best ways to get it there. She already had a ship afterall and the Empire would not find him until it was too late. He smiled at the thought. His plans would succeed.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

Vet didn't turn her head as she answered, "Nar Shadda. Then I can drop you off so I can finally head back to _Manda'yiem_." Mandawhat? He thought it was called Mandalore.

"I don't need to get to Nar Shadda," he spoke up, "I need to get to Ord Mantell, I have to deliver something important to… a contact. It is urgent that I do." He couldn't see her face under the helmet, but he could tell she was raising an eyebrow no doubt using her species natural born empathy to sense his emotions something that until this moment had slipped his mind about her.

"Uh-huh," she stared at him a moment and turned back to the controls, "Nope."

"What do you mean no?!" He said a bit disbelievingly, "We were in the same clan, we got our lightsaber crystals together! Violet I need your help." his plea to catch S-cee's attention. The droid looked back and forth between Vet and Crous.

"Then you should have mentioned it earlier."

Vet refused to acknowledge him further as she plugged in the coordinates for Nar Shadda. As the stars around the view point stretched and were replaced by the swirling white and blue vortex that was hyperspace, she stood up and walked to her room without another word. He leaned back in his chair and slumped. Had she really fallen so far as to not help an old friend? One she thought was dead even and had just reunited with, or did she remember what happened that night. What he did to her to get away from the clones chasing them. He hoped not, but if she had, she would have killed him when she had her blade against his throat so he might be in the clear in that regard. What hopefully his impassioned plea would get to her. He could fake his true emotiona and intentions just long enough to trick her, hopefully. If she didn't help he would be forced to take the ship. His plans could not be interfered with even by an old friend.

* * *

The door of the captain's cabin whished open and Vet calmly walked in to her room. She stood there a moment and took a few breathes trying to calm herself and remember her control. She focused on squeezing her force connection back down, but it wouldn't work. It was like it was fighting back, tired of being locked away. The more she pushed the harder it pushed back. After a time she grew frustrated enough she punched the wall of her cabin and let out a small growl. She then took off her helm and sat on the bed, she rubbed her eyes with a gloved hand. She set her helm down gently next to her right foot.

Why did she even bother taking Crous back with her? He said he didn't have ship, was it some form of guilt or more of a debt to dead friends? _Probably both?_

Crous seemed different than last she saw him, he seemed off, even more laid back than she last saw him. When she read his emotions they seemed out of place. Then again it had been years since she last saw him so she gave it little thought. He still used that stupid nickname. She wanted to probe him like he did her, but her skills were too out of practice to do so and he would no doubt catch on faster than she did.

She sighed and leaned back on the bed, her rifle and _beskad_ pressing against her back. She still wanted to wash her hands of him. Drop him off on Nar Shadda forget ever seeing him, but she saw their faces every time the thought entered mind, scared faces looking at her, hoping she wouldn't lead them to their deaths and she did. Now Crous needed her help again, there wasn't much else to it. _Burc'ya vaal burk'yc, burc'ya veman_: A Friend in Need. A saying her people had. Perhaps getting him to his contact on Ord Mantell would go toward soothing that guilt and allow her get on with her life.

She sat up, donned her helmet and walked out the door down the hall to the cockpit where it sounded like Crous was taking to S-Cee.

"… made you, there must have been someone out who designed you? The Separatists, perhaps?" She saw Crous leaning forward to better be able to speak to the droid.

"I made myself," the droid said not even looking at really acknowledging Crous. Vet smirked, as S-cee's demeanor was hard to get used to. When she worked with him on contracts in the past and S-Cee seemed to not talk much and was mostly straight to the point, probably seeing the unnecessary chatter as a waste of power. Vet walked in watching as both Crous and S-Cee looked back at her.

She looked at Crous, "You said Ord Mantell right?"

"Yeah, I have information that will help my contacts in their struggle," Crous pulled out what looked like a data chip, "This right here will go a long way for them," he put it back pocket before she could really see it.

Vet nodded and leaned on the door frame, "Alright, but I will need money, enough to cover fuel and other expenses for the ship." She knocked on the wall for effect.

Crous nodded, "You will be compensated for that, I do have funds I can use for such things." _Why does he have funds? She wondered._

"Alright," she looked to S-Cee as she sat down in her seat, "You fine with this?" The droid nodded and she looked back at Crous. "Alright, I'll get you to Ord Mantell."

Crous smiled, "Thanks Violet." He got up and walked down the hall to the guest cabin.

Vet shook her head and reprogrammed the navicomputer, hoping to drop Crous off and be done with it. She still took a small comfort in knowing one of her friends from her old life survived. Part of her still saw Crous' sudden appearance suspicious, the way he acted, set off some warning bells in her head. She sighed perhaps she was being paranoid and set aside any crazy notions she was cooking up in her head for now at least.

* * *

**Worlport, Ord Mantel**

The city of Worlport was still rocky and full of criminal scum like every other time she had been here. There was very little Imperial presence here and many organizations like the Black Sun and others operated out of here. Vetrova walked down the ramp of her ship with S-Cee and Crous, who had ditched his robe and simply wore a blue tunic, gray pants, and black boots with a blaster strapped to his hip. His blond hair was slicked back and he carried a cool confidence in the way he walked.

Vet turned to S-Cee, "You want to fill the ship while I help Crous find his contact?" The Droid nodded and left her side. She gestured out the crowd of people milling about with her hand at Crous, "Let's get you to your contacts."

"Eager to be rid of me, eh?" he said while pulling out communicator and sent out a page to his contact.

"You have no idea, even if it was nice seeing someone from_ before_. It is… just safer this way," Crous simply nodded remembering that night as well. She began walking as Crous strode forward and she followed him threw the crowded streets. Her armored form made many people part for her as she walked past. Mandalorians had reputation of being violent brutes, a stereotype that her people did nothing to try and change. Such fear could be useful at times.

It wasn't long before they reached a Cantina with a broken neon sign that seemed to flicker a bit. Crous stopped and turned to her, "Well, this is where we must part ways."

"Now who is eager to get rid of whom, hmm?" She quipped.

Crous shook his head and weaved his hand dismissively, "It not that, but my contact is expecting me alone. Anyone else, especially a mando in full armor will make him… skittish."

He reached into his pockets and pulled out a credit chit, "Here, for your ship and I included some extra for your droid friend. It was nice seeing you again, Violet."

She took the chit and placed in one of the pouches on her belt, "Thanks, it was good to see you too. I hope this isn't the last time we run into one another. Well, at least for a while."

He gave a polite wave and left her standing outside the bar as he entered it. Vet stood there a moment as he walked in. She shook her head and began to make her way back to the spaceport. She was about to go through the entrance when she noticed a shady zabrak woman standing outside a stall. Vet recognized her from somewhere. Her strong features and the distinct merecat-like tattoos on her face gave her away. It took her only a moment to realize that this in fact was Dorea Soledge, a gang lieutenant in the gang, the Over Hounds. More like a terrorist cell than an actual gang, anywhere they set up, it generally involved mass murder of imperial citizens and soldiers. She pulled her communicator and pinged S-Cee. The Droids image appeared immediately, "Yes Vet'ika."

"Get the cage ready, S-Cee. I believe a nice opportunity for some extra creds just fell into our laps."

"Acknowledged, I will ready the prisoner transport cells for when you return. Would you like assistance afterwards?" the droid inquired.

"Nah, I got this, but I will send my location if anything goes wrong so be ready on standby." She ordered.

The droid nodded his head, "Acknowledged." The holo faded and she turned her attention back to the target.

While she hated the Empire like everyone else, the way the Over Hounds worked was sometimes even worse than the Imps. There was simply no honor in massacring civilians simply to get back at the Empire. It wasn't like the Empire really cared much about the lives taken anyway.

One of the many reasons the gang was so successful was that they were very secretive about their leader's identity. No one knew he, she, or what they could be. In fact the identity alone was worth a five thousand credit bounty if the information leading to the successful capture of this individual turned out to be true.

Which is why Vet decided to shadow the zabrak as she met up with a massive houk with a large vibroblade on his back by the name of Gorgl , another Over Hound lieutenant. Whoa, this was big seeing as any of the Over Hound top dogs rarely were seen together in public. Whatever was going down was big. Perhaps even the mysterious leader might make an appearance. Normally she wouldn't go after a bounty this big, but to have such an opportunity drop right in your lap before any of the big time hunters even knew. She wasn't that big a fool to pass this kind of chance up. She knew well that the big hunters wouldn't be far behind if they were meeting in one place.

They didn't stop until they reached a heavily armed warehouse on the far side of the town. The tall nikito guards let them pass. Vet paused a ways back, keeping out of sight and put down the rangefinder on the side of her helmet and surveyed the area, looking for a way in. The guards patrolled regularly and kept alert. A small problem, but after a few minutes she found an opening in the patrol near the back of the warehouse as she circled the building, on a second story window. It gave her a thirty second window to get in. She deciphered that the best way across would be by hopping the fence only twenty meters from the rear guard entrance were a small broken down speeder sat outside the fence.

She sat and waited for the opening in the patrols. When it appeared she ran and jumped over the fence using the speeder bike to gain extra height. She surprised herself by jumping a little higher than expected and nearly cleared the fence with little effort. In fact many things seemed a little easier when like she jumped and climbed to the building upper windows. _Haran_, her armor even seemed to weigh less. She found that window wouldn't open however when she tried to open it. _Of course._

"_Osik_," she cursed aloud to herself. Sawing or welding through would take too long and breaking the transparisteel would draw too much attention. She found herself attempting something she hadn't done in ages. She closed her eyes and let go of the sill with one hand. Her mind reached out and she guided the force to hit the button to open the window. It tooka few precious moments to focus which was to be expected. The window whished open she climbed in and not a moment too soon as the patrol just rounded the corner. She smirked and scanned for any more immediate life signs and continued along the catwalk that ran long the far side of the wall. Many crates that were stacked in many rows filled with _te Manda_ knows what littered the warehouse. She jumped off the catwalk and began running along the tops of the high crates. The warehouse was dark say for one area that looked like a clearing for extra office space with Dorea and Gorgl standing next to a short heavy set man with gray hair and round features. The three stood around a wooden conference table.

"When is the boss going to get here? I hate it when we meet together like this." The houk grumbled.

"Shut it Gorgl, I didn't come all the kriffing way from Tatooine just to hear you complain." Dorea pointed her finger at the houk.

"Will you two both shut up? The boss doesn't like it when you argue. Hell I don't know why he keeps you idiots around." The heavy set lieutenant, his name was Nerman if her bounty info was good, angrily berated the other two.

The houk raised one of his meaty balled fists, "Why you fat little piece of nerfshit, I am goin…"

"Enough! All of you!" All three turned to look at the figure that strode in. Vet let out small gasp in her helmet as the figure who was wearing a blue tunic and gray pants walked in. Was that Crous? Were these the contacts he mentioned?

"I get so tired of hearing my lieutenants argue." His Leuitenants?! Her mind did backflips as the realization dawned on her. Crous, a vicious terrorist/crime lord, it couldn't be. He clasped his hands behind his back as he walked around the room. Vet didn't miss the fearful glances they sent his way.

"We don't have much time, and I rather not try to get caught by Imperial Intelligence by remaining here too long. Now the code I that I acquired on Coruscant will give us access to many vulnerable areas. From there we can use them to flood the sewers and pipes with the gas we found in that canister not far from here. Then we will light it and you can say goodbye to an entire sector." His lieutenants nodded, Gorgl and Nerman had looks on their faces like they thought the idea wasn't so bad except for Dorea.

"So what do you say, huh? Want to make the biggest statement to the Empire in history by lighting Imperial City on fire." he chuckled a bit. Gorbl and Nerman nodded, but Dorea seemed to frown a bit.

Crous did not fail to notice this, "Something wrong Dorea?"

"I don't know boss, it seems that a lot could go wrong. This isn't a simple, set the charges and blow the place, your taking about pumping a highly unstable gas into the already volatile sewer system not the mention the amount of carnage that could cause."

"What a weird time for you to grow a conscious?" Crous asked disdainfully.

Dorea was about to answer when Crous held out his hand. Dorea grabbed her throat as she gasped for air. He walked over to her while she hung the air.

"Ah, Dor Dor, I really wish that you hadn't said that. Such apprehension could be seen as a sign of weakness and perhaps a loss of loyalty." He chuckled as she tried to answer back.

"What was that? Speak more clearly please. It is so dreadfully hard to hear you." Vet could hardly believe her eyes as Crous strangled Dorea. This wasn't the kid she grew up with. She backed away but Nerman looked up seeing her motion.

"Boss, we are being watched!" The heavy set man pulled out a blaster and began firing. The houk and growled and unsheathed his massive vibroblade. Crous released Dorea who fell to the floor on hands and knees gasping for air. He pulled out his pistol and fired into the darkness.

"Some turn on the kriffing lights!" he yelled to no one in particular.

"Osik!" Vet cursed as the fairly accurate blaster fire from Nerman had her falling back. She had to get out of here before Crous' guards showed up. She pulled out her blasters and fired back at Nerman, wary of the lumbering Houk heading her way in the isle below her.

Crous leapt on to the stack of crates where she was prior, "I said get those kriffing lights on now!" he roared. The lights turned on moments later. Vetrova could see a wheezing Dorea standing next to a lighting panel. Crous' eyes looked on her. He glared, "It's seems that someone couldn't mind their own business." Vetrova aimed her blasters at Crous despite having Nerman's sights on her. Over Hound guards of varying species poured in and surrounded her pointing their guns up at her from down below.

Crous sauntered along the top of the crates toward her, "I really do wish you didn't find this place Violet."

"You have no karking right to call me that you fierfacking terrorist!" Crous only smiled at her words.

"I like to think more like "thorn in the Emperor's backside."" Vetrova's fingers tensed on the triggers of her blasters. She didn't recognize the man in front of her, how could this be the fun loving boy she went to Ilum with. What happened to him to make him this way? She fired her blaster multiple times, only to have the shots easily blocked as he activated his lightsaber deflected the bolts. He then held out his hand she was blasted back by a wave of force energy flying head over heels and hit the wall of the warehouse by a powerful force push. She fell to the floor and landed hard on her stomach. She groaned as she tried to get up when she felt something massive slam down on her back. She saw through the 360 degree view of her helmet that the houk had planted his booted foot on her back.

"Don't move bucket-head, or we'll see how much force it takes to crush that fancy armor of yours." The Houk growled leaning on her more and putting more pressure on her back. She could hear her rifle cracking under the weight or was that her spine?

She saw Crous approach, "Lift her up," the houk did as he was bid and picked her up with both her arms in one of his large fists. Crous reach up and pulled off her helm.

"Wow you look good my dear Violet." he handed her helmet off to Nerman as he approached, weezing a bit as the overweight lieutenant obviously didn't run much. Crous reached out caressed her face. She growled and bit his hand, earning a growl and a back hand from Crous.

"Ah," he recoiled, "I had almost forgot you're a barbarian now, such a shame if you hadn't showed up here I would have let you go on your way… for old times' sake anyway." He sighed and walked away, "Lock her up and make sure you restrain her well. Mandos can be tricky."

As he rounded corner Nerman pulled out his blaster and bashed her on the head with the butt of it.

She glared at him through the pain, "Is that all you got, you_ hut'uun_?"

The man snarled and this time he put much more force behind the blow. Her world went black when the pistol's but connected with the side of her head.


	4. Chapter 4

First I would like to thank Kadirika7211 for being such an awesome beta for this chapter. So it has been a while, but this chapter is a bit longer so I hope that makes up for the wait. Reviews and criticism are welcome. Enjoy.

**A Friend in Need Ch.4  
**

_The darkness seemed to seep in from everywhere in the Coruscanti underworld as four young children of various species ran through the streets. Many wouldn't have really noticed a bunch of urchins except these four wore Jedi attire. It drew much attention as they ran turning heads as many clone troopers with blue accented white armor were not far behind, taking shots at the group of younglings caring little for collateral damage and forcing many people to run for cover._

_The zeltron youngling who seemed to be helping them navigate the streets, cursed as a shot flew by her head. She slid around a corner as she led them down an alley. The Zeltron girl stopped to help up a human boy who tripped on an old pipe. She used the Force knock over a stack of large crates in order to slow the troopers down as they ran down the alley. The Rodian boy was the first to exit the alley. He quickly checked for any clones and signaled the way clear. The other three moved up only to skid to a halt as a blaster bolt to the head ended the Rodian boy's life._

_The shot came from troopers who had set up an ambush in the street outside the alleyway while the ones chasing them had penned them in like a herd of Nerfs. Three heads turned back to see the troopers who chased them climbing over the crates._

_The zeltron girl looked up seeing an old rusty fire escape._

_"This way," she called out as she began to leap off the brown walls of the alley._

_They climbed up by jumping from one wall to the other. Two jumps and she landed on the fire escape, followed closely behind by the cathar girl and human boy. They made their way up as many shots whizzed by them as they began traversing the stairs of the old fire escape which did not even reach the full height of the building. They were forced to jump the opposite wall of the alley propel themselves up on the top the roof. The human boy went first followed by the zeltron girl. The cathar girl prepared to jump, but cried out as a blaster bolt hit her foot through the grate as she jumped. She missed the wall and tumbled down._

_"Seri!" The Zeltron girl cried out from the rooftop. She prepared to jump down and assist her friend even with the clones moving in. She was held back by the boy as the cathar was shot several times on the ground of the alley. The Zeltron girl screamed as she was pushed back by the boy as blaster fire peppered the building's edge where they were standing._

_"We have to go!" he shouted as he grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around to face him. She nodded reluctantly while holding back her tears. He then activated his lightsaber and the blue blade deflected a shot from a clone that had ascended the roof via grappling lines. She followed him as they ran along the rooftop, activating her own saber and the violet blade deflected another shot back at the same trooper killing him as his comrades followed him up. When they reached the edge of the roof, they began hopping the rooftops and jumping off the slow moving speeder traffic to make distance from the troopers. They returned to ground level after seeing a gunship pop around the corner and found an alleyway to hide in for the moment to lose the troopers on the ground. They both stopped, taking large breaths after such a hard run._

_"They're gone. All of them," The zeltron girl whispered to herself. She looked at her friend seeing the same look of horror on his face after watching the last of their friends get gunned down. There seemed to be something else in his gaze as he looked at the wall. She didn't give it much thought as she remembered the group of eight that fled the temple now reduced to two. The girl looked around, "We need a disguise, something to throw them off our…" a blue blaster bolt cut through the air gazing her cheek and leaving a burned scar. They bolted through the alleyway. The boy found a hiding spot in a small nook in between buildings and tucked himself in. She tripped as she felt a hot stinging bolt of plasma pierce her back. She fell forward as the bolt forced her toward the ground and smacked her head hard on a dumpster, her vison fading._

* * *

_Unknown Warehouse in Worlport, Ord Mantell_

Vetrova's eyes snapped open and she let out a few horrified breaths. She looked around to get her bearings, unsure of her location as her eyes adjusted to the minimal light inside the cell. She tried to remember how she got here as her memories of the past few hours came rushing back. She remembered seeing Crous choking one of his lieutenants with the Force. She recoiled slightly as the memory seemed so vivid. She remembered how in her shock she'd moved just enough to give away her position. She chided herself for such a foolish rookie mistake.

She shook her head and made to sit up only to get a slight shock from a pair of what looked like to be a modified pair of stun-cuffs wrapped around her hands. From the glowing blue cord she could tell they were meant for force-users. Her feet were bound as well and she fell back on her back as her body seized from the cuffs. Her her body's convulsing only seemed to add to the shock she recieved. After few minutes of fighting to remaining still the shocks finally subsided. She growled as she tried again to stand careful not to move her wrists too much. She managed to sit up and look over herself. She sighed when she saw they took the top half of her _beskar'gam_ by removing the plates off her flight suit. She scooted to the edge of the cell and leaned her back against the wall. She rested a hand on her ribs, which felt like a Reek had stepped on them while running full charge. She have to be careful not get hit there again or the broken bones may puncture a lung.

She took stock of her situation, which wasn't good considering she was trapped in a cell Force only knew where and she had no weapons or even her upper armor, and to top it off, she had a killer headache centered where that fat kriffer hit her with the butt of his blaster. She tried to use the force to undo the cuff. She closed her eyes and let it flow through her. She felt the sensation. Years since she had done anything like this and it felt like only yesterday as…

BZZZZZT!

She let out a small scream as the stun-cuffs gave her another more painful shock causing her fall over once more. She didn't know how long she laid there before the door opened revealing Crous, who had a cheerful smile on his face.

"You're awake," he walked over to her. The light of the hallway gave his features a dark ambiance as he crouched in front of her. She noticed he had swapped out shirts, trading his light blue one for a white one which meant she must have been knocked out a full day. It gave her some comfort knowing that S-Cee would come looking for her soon if he wasn't scouting and infiltrating the building already.

"I bet you're wondering when that droid friend of yours is going to get here. Don't count on it. I had my men track it down. They used a droid popper on it and brought it back here to be scrapped" He chuckled as she glared at him. "To be frank, Violet, I want to let you go, but you know who I am and my plans for the Empire. They have been in motion too long for you to ruin them." Her glare only intensified, "Oh don't give me that, I am sure you have worked long enough bounty hunting to know when loose ends must be cleaned up. So do you have any last requests? It is the least I could do for you. Any lovers or family members to give a piece of your armor to? Oh, yes I know of that little Mandalorian custom," His tone sounded superior, it was clear he held no respect for her or her people. Vetrova bit down her annoyance at the man and kept her cool. There was no sense in letting him bait her.

When she didn't respond, he sighed. "Well at least say something. I am getting a cramp." He shook his head and stood up. When he reached the door Vetrova called out.

"You're insane," Crous turned around and the calm easy demeanor was gone. She only saw his rage filled gaze bore into her. His eyes flashed yellow for a moment before a cruel smile formed on his face.

She could feel his anger wash over her when he spoke. It was overpowering to say the least. She cursed her species for the natural empathy she had and Force for only adding to it.

"Not entirely, but my eyes have been opened," He turned and left the room, the door shutting behind him with awkward thud as she was left in darkness.

She stared at the floor for a time. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her cuffed arms around them. She rested her head on her knees taking stock of her situation. She clenched her teeth and began working her left thumb around, preparing. _I really owe my buir for teaching me this._ With a crack she broke her thumb biting her lip to avoid crying out and alerting the guards. She began to work her way out of the cuffs, slowly, as to not get another shock and her thumb still throbbed with a bit of pain. She had to get out of here. She had to stop Crous, because if she didn't millions would die. That and her cyar'ika would kill her if she died without at least putting up a fight.

* * *

Insulted was probably the best word he would use for the situation. The fact that those thugs thought a simple pulse grenade would destroy him, if he were organic, he would have growled at the thought, but he wasn't organic was he? He had never tried to be in the first place.

As such he had his memory core and his hard wired circuitry shielded long ago from such devices. It allowed him to fake a power failure on the chance that those fools would either take him with them or simply leave him to allow him to simply follow them to their base. Either way he would end up at their base of operations where they no doubt imprisoned Vetrova. The fools had performed the former perhaps in hopes of reprogramming him for their operations.

S-Cee powered back on and sat up from the work table he was placed on. He was in what looked like a simple droid repair room with scattered tools and droid parts lying about on tables and the floor. He slid off the table and opened the door and found the hallway unguarded. Were S-Cee organic, he would've been smiling as he stepped into the hall. No one ever suspected the droid after all. It was an advantage that he played off regularly. He walked to the terminal at the end of the hall and downloaded the building schematics. S-Cee looked them over while he marched down the hall. He scanned for life signs as well, finding none in the near vicinity. He wondered why. Where had the Over Hounds gone off to?

He didn't bother looking for the armory yet as he didn't need a blaster. The blasters built into his palms would suffice for now as he marched for the detention area which turned out to be a cargo bay full of shipping containers positioned with the boxes against either side of the room creating a narrow hallway for the guards to patrol. He stopped at the corner and an optic cable zoomed out of his wrist guard. He looked down the hallway seeing only two guards standing on either side of one of the cell doors.

S-Cee was able to scan the container and found only one life sign in the interior. It seemed the guards were talking among themselves, a perfect opportunity. They just stood there, complaining about being left behind and something about fireworks. S-Cee didn't give them both a chance to finish as he popped out and leveled two shots with his blasters and two bodies dropped outside the cell. He marched over and opened the cell door. Vetrova sat against the opposite wall with her arms on her knees.

She looked up, "S-Cee, you're here!"

S-Cee nodded and as Vetrova stood up, walking with a slight limp. She had a hand over her ribs as well.

"You need medical attention." S-Cee stated which only seemed to agitate the woman.

"No, we have to get to Coruscant and warn Cor-Sec about the attack the Over Hounds are planning." Vet began jogging down the hall. "You know where the armory is?" she asked.

S-Cee called up the schematics and pointed down the nearest hall. Vet turned and ran, ignoring her injuries until she came to a stop outside the doors. Luck wasn't on her side as S-Cee assumed she had hoped to find her armor by the annoyed look on her face. She grabbed a pair of blaster pistols and let out a hiss of pain as she tried to use her broken thumb. She holstered that one immediately although the different modeled weapon did not fit well in it while she kept the other in her good hand.

S-Cee heard her sigh as she looked around the armory noticing that that it contained many E-11 blasters, the standard rifle for the Empire's stormtroopers. Known for being able to put bolts down range fast, but not for their accuracy.

Vetrova shook her head and opted to carry the pistol she had already taken. She threw one to S-Cee which he caught with ease. She then dashed out of the room.

"S-Cee, where is the Cargo bay?" Vet asked checking the corner, both pistols raised seeing no one else she took off once again. S-Cee could tell she was wondering where all the gang members went. He had assumed whatever they were planning required many hands.

Vetrova darted ahead once again, leaving S-Cee to catch up. She waited for him at the door to the cargo bay. S-Cee didn't not fail to notice that her breathing was even more labored and his scans had shown two broken ribs. She counted down and opened the door. S-Cee went in first as he was the most heavily armored. He noticed many workers and blue armored gang members loading crates on to a cargo ship. They were being supervised by a heavy set man in thick brown plastisteel armor with a pistol on his hip. The heavy set man turned around. He looked at the two Mandos and sneered.

"Well aren't you two persistent. However you weren't persistent enough." He pointed at the duo and most of the guards set their loaded canisters down. "We have all we need. Take care of these fools. We're taking off." As he walked up the ramp the hydraulics let out a high pitch tone as it shut behind him. The ship's engines flared.

S-Cee pulled Vet behind a stack of canisters as blaster fire peppered all around them. Despite being filled what appeared to be some kind of gas, the canisters where heavily plated with durasteel and likely better cover than most of the leftover crates. Vetrova seemed much more angry than usual she watched the ship take off. It could wait as they had a firefight to deal with.

…

That fat kriffer, Nerman left only enough men to cover the cargo ships escape. Vet felt a sense of helplessness as the Warehouse rooftop door opened and let the craft leave. She let out a growl as her fear was replaced by anger and she took out her frustration on the remaining guards as they popped up. The few guards that stayed behind suffered fatal wounds all except one who ran. She shot one of his legs out as he tried to bolt for the doors, his blaster skidding away from him as he fell to the floor behind some remaining canisters.

She stormed up to him, ignoring the pain in her ribs and knee and pointed a blaster at his head. The orange skinned Twi'lek man held up his hands. "How many ships like that does your boss have like that going to Imperial City?!"

The twi'lek flinched slightly, "That was the fourth, but he has several shuttles that will secure the LZs so the workers can inject the sewers in the gas when the cargo ships arrive. The other's already left. Can I go? This whole operation is insane. The boss is using everyone at his disposal." His body seemed to shake even more, "Are you going to let me go?" he asked nervously.

Vetrova held the pistol for a moment, letting it hover over the man's forehead. Part of her wanted to. Her hand tensed, ready to pull the trigger when a robotic hand reached out and gently pushed her arm down. She looked up at S-Cee, "There is no honor in killing an unarmed opponent."

The twi'lek took this as his cue to bolt as Vetrova continued to stare at S-Cee who looked away and began walking toward the door. She wondered briefly how the droid had become the way he was and for the first time since meeting S-Cee really wished to know who created him.

"We must go if we are to get to Coruscant and warn the Imperials." The irony of his statement snapped her from her thoughts.

"Yeah let's go save the Imps," Vetrova stated with mock enthusiasm as she followed S-Cee. They both ran toward the entrance of the warehouse making their way back to Vet's ship.

* * *

_MandalMotors Birgaan Class Freighter Model-46s, Designation: The Forgotten_

It took longer than expected to get to her ship as the rush at the spaceport was at an all-time today. She hoped that the goons Crous sent to take S-Cee hadn't done anything to sabotage her ship. Luck appeared to be on her side when she found her ship unharmed.

"Crous' thugs must not have had time to actually take anything with all his plans in motion," Vetrova remarked as she pulled out a used security spike from the keypad and typed in the code for the ramp.

S-Cee didn't say anything and made a beeline for the cockpit. Vetrova saw him running though prefight checks. She let him do it, making her way to the armory of her ship where most of her weapons were stored. Mostly, because this ship had a weapon in almost every nook and cranny she could think of. The door slid open and she stepped inside. She tossed the pistols she took from Crous' base on an open crate for parts. She instantly replaced them with a pair of WESTAR-35 blasters. However these weren't as heavy modified as her old pair. Nonetheless, the familiar weight felt comforting as she went to her room to get her back up _beskar'gam_. She felt the ship lurch as S-Cee took off and carefully made her way to her room. She sat at the desk of her chair and strapped in while the ship broke atmosphere.

She sighed and thought about how she had to deal with Crous. Part of her knew this would end up in a showdown. She swiveled in her chair and stared at her safe where she knew it was stored. If did come down to her and Crous fighting it out, she would need it especially without her _beskad_. When the ship stabilized she unhooked her belt and went to the safe on the other side of the room. She placed a hand on the handle and sighed as the biometric scanners unlocked the key pad. She typed in the code, safe door opening with a hiss revealing a semi-large stack of credits that she kept in case her any of her hidden accounts were frozen, wiped or stolen. She reached behind them and open another more secret compartment and a small square shaped slot opened pushed out revealing a small black box. She took it and opened it and there it still sat. The violet crystal shined a bit in the light of her room as she picked it up and looked at more closely before closing her hand around it. She then went about opening up various nooks around the room pulling out pieces of black painted beskar she had made one by one over the years why different beskar smiths.

She sat down on the table and laid the pieces out. She stared at them for a few moments deciding if this was a really good idea. _Ah, screw it_, she thought. She closed her eyes and reached out and formed the picture in her mind and the pieces on the desk floated around each other, assembling themselves together as they rotated around crystal forming a black cylindrical hilt. Just like riding a speederboard, she mused before it fell apart and the pieces clattered on the top of the desk. Vetrova let out an annoyed groan as one of the pieces fell on the floor and under her desk. Vet got off her chair and knelt down trying to reach it. The little focusing crystal was just out reach. She struggled a minute as she reached for it before she smacking her forehead.

"What am I doing?" she shook her head as this time she reached out and the piece flew right into her palm. She got up and sat back down this time focusing harder clearing her mind entirely except the image of the saber. As she imagined each piece sliding together the hilt on the desk began to assemble once again.

This time when Vetrova opened her eyes a black-hilted lightsaber lay on the desk. She stood and picked up activating the blade as she swung it front of her face. She admired the violet blade for a moment before deactivating it and laying it back on the desk.

Vetrova stepped over to her lockers which sat right next to desk. She opened it to reveal a steel colored suit. She groaned, wishing she had got around to painting it, but it would have to do for now. Vet quickly stripped down and took off what was left of her old set. While she was out of her armor, she quickly took a shower in the fresher across the hall because there was no way she was donning a new set while dirty and sweaty. It seemed like a waste of time, but she had to wrap her ribs with bacta patches.

A few minutes later a clean Vetrova set about putting on the newer set. It fit rather well actually. She rolled her shoulders, allowing the suit to settle a bit more. She clipped on a black kama and holstered her WESTAR-35's in the side holsters attached to the outside of the belt-skirt. She turned around and examined herself in the mirror while holding her other helmet under her arm. She looked rather badass actually the silver armor over the black flight-suit went well together. She'd have to add some purple and black accents later. Vetrova reached out toward the desk where her lightsaber still sat and it flew into her hand. She stared at the blade a moment rolling it over in her hands and clipped to her belt. Despite not using one for years, the weight was familiar and came with a welcome sense of relief.

She donned her new helmet as she left the room. She sighed in annoyance as the Heads Up Display appeared. It was the standard layout which meant she would have to go in and make adjustments to get the settings the way she wanted. She grabbed a roll of tape and began taping up her broken thumb.

"Have you tried to contact the Imperials about the attack?" She said sitting down in the Captain's seat.

"Negative, I believe we should find out which sector the Over Hounds plan to destroy and make contact with the local authorities there as they would be more apt to hear us out."

"That makes sense. Keeps the spotlight off of us better, I guess that and some high strung Captain wouldn't really believe us anyway. Do have any idea where they would go pull something like this off?"

"Without a readout of the Coruscanti sewer system, I can only hypothesize." Vet nodded at S-Cee answer trying to think of something before S-Cee spoke up once again.

"However I was able to tag the ship with a tracker as it left. We should be able to locate it when we exit Hyperspace."

Vetrova smiled at the news, "Where would I be without you _ner beskar'vod_?"

"Probably dead." The droid answered back before he resumed to checking the ship's controls.

Vetrova shook her head, "Such little faith in my abilities."

"I did just rescue you from a warehouse prison." S-Cee said as he looked at her.

Vetrova held up her finger, "Hey, I was working on a plan to get out. I had just broken my thumb to get out of the cuffs they had on me. All I needed was the right moment to jump the guards."

"If you say so," Vetrova made a face at S-Cee which was lost on the droid as he checked more systems for malfunctions. They didn't really do a full pre-flight check after all.

Vetrova shook her head and worked her broken thumb. It might be a hindrance when she confronted Crous. There was something she could do while they were still a ways from Coruscant. Meditation might work. It had been a while but she entered a meditative state. She focused on herself and other injuries, using the force to speed up the healing process which was hard since she had forgotten most of the mumbo jumbo they taught as the temple.

The force itself wasn't as calm as she remembered. It seemed different. She wanted to explore more, but she maintained her focus on her injuries, mainly her ribs. She actually felt the bones slowly mending. Weird was hardly a good word to describe the sensation. When she opened her she realized she had been meditating for hours and Coruscant was only minutes away where she would find Crous and hopefully end this madness before millions died, not to mention the possible reward for saving the Imps' _shebs_.


	5. Chapter 5

Reviews and criticism are welcome. Enjoy.

**A Friend in Need Ch.5 **

**Coruscant (Imperial City) Quadrant G-54 Police Precinct.**

If anyone ever asked him if it was unfair that he would only live half a long a normal human, Break would only rub his graying beard and say, "Kid, I have seen and done more things in my short life than many with what you call a normal lifespan will ever do."

It was the truth, he was a clone. It was part of growing up the way he was. He was created to fight for the Republic. It is what they told him day in, day out. It wasn't until he bumped into Kal Skirata, one of the Mandalorians that trained him and his brothers that all that changed. He remembered how the old man just laughed and patted the kids shoulder continuing on his way. He said something in Mandalorian and walked off. Break wondered what the man had said and tracked the old mando down to ask him. Break knew some Mandalorians words from the training he was given, but Kal muttered an entire sentence that made no sense to him. Kal never gave him a straight answer, just something about being truly ready. Break never had a chance to speak to the man again as he was deployed a week later.

He wanted more than anything to leave. Desert his post and find his way to Mandalore where many of his brothers had fled to. Ironically it was his old squad, his brothers that always seemed to hold him back. What would they think of abandoning his post even if there seemed to be little honor in it anymore. Ruffing up the citizens he was sworn to protect left a bad taste in his mouth. He ordered his men to take it easy, but the new Commander in charge of the Quadrant had a fierfacking stick up his ass and generally encouraged the anti-alien treatment many non-humans received. As a mere Captain, he was never be able to run things fully. Running away to Mandalore looked better all time.

He leaned back in his chair in his office, a perk of being in charge of the prescient. While the movement would come off as lazy, he was normally a very regimented soldier. Today was different. He pulled out a bottle of Corealian Rum. He held it up.

"To you _vod_. You took ten times the amount of clankers down when it counted." He remembered the day they died. He only escaped their fate because he was pinned down while scouting. He downed the shot of rum as his pager for his holocom went off. He activated the small desk projector and an image of a Mandalorian came up on screen, clad in steel colored armor with the infamous t-visor on her helm.

He sat up straighter as she spoke.

"Is this the precinct for Quadrant G-54?" she asked, her arms crossed.

"Yes this is it." He said curiously as to why he was being hailed directly by a Mandalorian of all people.

She nodded.

"Then I have vital information for you. A gang by the name of the Over Hounds is planning a major terrorist attack on the City. I have tracked one of their ships to this Quadrant."

A terrorist attack on Coruscant, it wasn't the first time, but Imperial Intelligence was generally on the ball when it came to these things. However the Over Hounds were known to be rather tricky so it wouldn't the first time they slipped past the information channels. The tone in the Mandalorian's voice however was urgent.

"How did you come by this information?" he asked suspiciously, trying to probe her a bit.

She reached up with her left hand and rubbed the back of her head anxiously, "I sort of stumbled across it. I was captured when pursuing the bounties places on the three main lieutenants. I learned that they planned to use some sort of artillery gas to blow up the sewer lines."

Break's eyes widened. If this information was true. Then it must be reported up the chain. He immediately typed up a message and sent it to his Commander to notify him.

"Do you know where and when?" he asked.

"I couldn't tell when or where… what was that S-Cee?," she looked over at someone else on her end, "Are you sure?"

"My partner claims to that the ship landed somewhere in a sector called Old Grove." Break nodded. Old grove was very old part of the city, about a couple hundred levels from the surface. It was once full of penthouses that catered to the rich centuries ago, but as the city grew over them they were abandoned. It was also now the level where the quadrant's sewer system mainlines were houses.

"Thank you for this intel. I assume that you wish to be paid for this information?" he asked. Break could almost see her eyebrow raise under her helmet.

"I think I'll tag along. You see I have a score settle with their leader, personally and financially." Break heard the venom in her voice and chose not to deny her. A Mando wouldn't really heed his warnings to back off anyway. Its why the empire had a hard time keeping a lid on the their home planet.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said briskly, "Stay on this frequency while we determine if the sewer plant is compromised." Truthfully he already had men working on contacting the plant after he sent a text while he was on the holo.

The Mandalorian shrugged, "I'll have my partner look into it as well. He has a knack for this kind of thing. I am sending a data packet with everything we have on their plans." Her image disappeared as she cut the line for the moment. He cleared his desk pulled on his Stormtrooper helmet, making sure his orange captain's pauldron was properly placed as he did so. We was out the door in seconds, sending out pages to other precincts around the quadrant. He had all available units ready to go at a moment's notice and heading for the plant as he walked down the hall. He had to thank the Mandalorian for the tip later.

Crous was in a very enjoyable mood as he watched the Imperial police forces heading to the district's Sewer Plant. From the building adjacent he watched while they swarmed the place. Stormtroopers rushing in to determine where the terrorists were. It was a very amusing scene.

"Looks like they took the bait boss," Dorea said looking through a pair of macrobinoculars down at the target, "How did you know your Mando friend would escape?" She offered the binoculars to him, but lifted his hand in refusal. His Force-enhanced vision giving him a good enough view. She seemed eager to help in any way hoping he might forget her past transgressions against him. He never forgot in the first place, but this eager loyalty may prove useful. That fear would drive her to be a model underling.

Crous simply smirked and turned on his heel walking away from the zabrak, who now wore the armor they stripped off his former fellow "Jedi". Minus the helm of course, Dorea's horns were too bulky for the helm after all.

"Call it a lucky guess." he replied. He walked through the old Sewer Plant looking over the gang members as they worked to carefully unload the gas. Many of them were alien, ranging from Rodian to Twi'leks and Mirialans, but a few humans could be seen milling about. Nerman and his girth in particular shuffled his way to him.

"Just got here boss," he said with a hint of hard breathing like the short waddle from his ship to Crous' position was an undertaking. Nerman always surprised Crous that way. When they first met, Nerman was fit and strong as a nerf. The years of drinking and eating away his earnings turned him into the rolling, heaving mass before him. Crous dismissed his wonderings. It was probably stress. He did put more responsibility on the man then those two other fools. He respected Nerman.

"Good, I assume Vetrova followed you like an eager akk dog pup." Crous said staring out at were the gas was being pumped in through various hoses.

"Yeah, only problem was she contacted the local captain instead of the base commander on the top level." Crous frowned at Nerman's reply. While he was impressed with his former childhood friend's foresight in contacting a lower ranking officer. Crous had gone to a lot of trouble to bribe the quadrant's base commander a considerable amount.

However a short holo-call and the police force at the Sewer plant would be called off. He resumed his watch on the workers unloading the gas into the old sewer system. The beautiful thing about Coruscant was they simply built over anything that was too old to be of use anymore. It was cheaper than tearing it down after all. The buildings that made up the surface of the planet had plenty of room to go up. This old sewer plant was shut down after the Clone Wars. It was a simple matter of having hackers delete all information on it and buying the part of the building through various shell companies he had in place.

A small chuckle escaped his lips. By the time the Imperial's found out about the old sewer plant it would already be too late.

* * *

**The Old Grove Primary Sewer Plant**

What do you mean they found no sign of the Over Hounds?" Vetrova asked anxiously, knowing full what not finding gang would mean for the city… and her paycheck.

The clone captain, Break was his name, replied, "We swept the whole place. Are you sure they landed in this district?" The commander asked suspiciously inclining his helmet slightly. His voice, that damn voice. It was hard for Vet to focus when she talked, the night the temple fell replaying every time the Captain spoke.

"We know it was this Quadrant because S-Cee planted a tracker in its hull. We lost the location when it entered the district. They knew we were following them." She clenched her fists in frustration, her knuckles no doubt turning a lighter shade of pink, inside her gloves.

"I know you're not lying… at least I hope you're not lying, because a ship by your description was in the area, but they are aren't even at the…" The captain rubbed the graying beard on his chin as if an idea came to mind.

"Lieutenant," he called out, "Get me a list of the older sewer plants that were shut down in the past fifty years. I'll bet they are using one of them." The young officer nodded his helm and walked off to do the task he was given.

"You think they're at an older plant?" Vetrova asked getting a sense of what the captain was thinking. Vetrova noted the scene around her as Stormtroopers milled about asking questions to the workers present. Despite being a sewage plant, the large square building with large pipes running under and over it, was rather clean. She noted they seemed to converge and link up at the three massive platforms at the edge of the building side were sewage tankers would hall the sewage off world. One of which she, S-Cee, and the majority of the Stormtroopers were know standing.

Break nodded, "Yes I do. Many old apartments and various plants for sewers, water, and power simply get built over and forgotten as time goes on. _Haran_, this entire district used to be the top of the building at one point. "

"Sir," the young Lieutenant rushed over to the captain data pad in hand. "I had the tech go over the record and only found two older plants in this district. They were only two others built, both before in the last century before the end of the clone wars. I bet they will be at one of them." Vetrova noticed a bit of excitement in the Lieutenant's voice. This obviously wasn't a very exciting post if a major threat like this seemed to perk up the young officer.

She looked over to S-cee who had been standing silently next to her. She turned back to the Captain who was organizing a scouting party for each plant. Something didn't sit well with her as her instincts said they had missed something. Her newly reawakened Force senses were also going haywire. She looked and saw an old Twi'lek man. His overalls were dirty, though not from sewage like one would expect. Probably grease from one of the pumps. He seemed to be talking with a Rodian counterpart. He seemed perturbed at the how he wasn't able to do his job letting the Rodian have the full blast of his frustration. She walked over to him. She could clearly he was much older up close, his blue face and lekko were wrinkled with age.

"I told them all I knew. Nobody suspicious and nothing foul afoot. So why aren't they letting us get back to wo…" The Rodian seemed to be agreeing with him, not really paying attention off in his little world. Vetrova approached and the Rodian slinked back noticing her approach before the old man, his bug-like eyes widening as the armored Mandalorian approached. The old Twi'lek whirled around contrary to his age with surprising grace. He raised his skinless eyebrow as Vetrova approached.

"What do we have here? Bucket-head huh?" Vet dismissing the derogatory insult at her and her people casually. If it hasn't been some unarmed grumpy old man who said it, she probably have gave them a good uppercut.

"I would like to inquire if you know anything about the two other old sewage plants on the other side of the district." She asked politely.

Again the old timer gave her an odd look, his lekko twitching slightly in annoyance. "Two?" he repeated with confusion.

"You mean there's more?" Vetrova inquired further.

"Of course, I'll have you know that I used to work at the one in the building just adjacent to us. It was shut down after the Clone Wars. Shame too, it was closer to my apartment. It is a longer commute now…" Vetrova left the old man to his ramblings having all she needed to know, leaving the bored Rodian to listen to the old man talk about days of yore.

She approached the Captain, "Captain," she called out. The Captain was organizing his troops for the raids of the old plants. He nodded to her in acknowledgement as she approached.

"Bounty Hunter." He greeted her. "I assume you want to tag along for the scouting mission to the other two plants?"

Vet shook her head, "The Over Hounds are not going to be at any of those plants because I just learned of one just across the way and around the corner." She jerked her thumb in the general direction of the plant.

"What, how do you know this?"

"Talked with that old Twi'lek over there. He claimed that he used to work at it before the Clone Wars."

The young Lieutenant who retrieved the information spoke up, "Then why wasn't it in the records?"

"Because Over Hounds erased them _di'kut_," Vet growled at the man's overly obvious question.

The young Lieutenant seemed to reel back at her agitated tone and insult not used to being insulted by a non-imperial.

"The troops are already organized. We'll hit the place then." The captain started bellowing out orders.

She stopped him by grabbing his arm, she had an idea, "Hold on," she sensed the captain's annoyance at being ordered around by a common bounty hunter then a weird guilty feeling rolled off the captain. Her natural Zeltron empathy must have been heightened by the Force, it seemed to skim off more than usual. It didn't help the emotional atmosphere of Coruscant was always at an all-time low these days. She hated this planet.

"Alright, what is it?"

Vetrova started, "Divide your men and head toward the other plants for about a block or two. Make it look like you are taking their bait. They'll let down their guard and then you'll swoop in and take them by surprise." Vetrova punched her fist into her open palm for effect. "Of course, they'll pry be watching us so make it look like you don't believe me. Then S-Cee and myself," she jerked her thumb at the silent droid standing beside her who hadn't really moved since they arrived. The droid looked at her a moment and went back to scanning or whatever he was doing.

"We'll make like it's a last desperate attempt to stop their plans and go in blasters blazing and blowing the _osik_ out of everything in there, minus the gas canisters of course." Vet realized she was sounding a bit too giddy for her normal cool and badass persona she usually exhibited. Battles seemed to do that as they gave her a chance to cut loose. Perhaps after this, she might take up bigger bounties.

The clone nodded, "I think that is as good plan as any. Sure you can hold out until we swing back around?"

Vet waved her hand dismissing the captain's concern with a wave.

"Don't worry about us, we can hold out just fine with the arsenal were taking along."

Break shook his head, "If you say so? Just don't die before we arrive or it will be more paperwork for me to deal with."

Vetrova nodded as they ended the conversation with a fake argument. Vetrova emphasizing her arm movement and the Captain sternly saying no and marching away in a huff.

* * *

**Old Grove Decommissioned Primary Sewer Plant **

"Boss," Crous looked back from the unloading workers to see Dorea walking over to him at a brisk pace.

He frowned, "Yes?"

"Well it looks like the CorSec took the bait, but your friend wasn't convinced. Had a big argument and everything. I think she figured out where we are." Dorea wasn't too concerned as she finished. Crous rubbed his bearded chin in thought.

"Have men guard the entrance. She and that Droid we'll be knocking down the door any minute. I'll be in the control room, there are things I must wrap up." Dorea nodded and went to organize a defense with Dorgl.

Nerman who was standing next to him the entire time spoke up, "I'll keep an eye on things here boss." Crous nodded confident in Nerman's ability to oversee the work left toward the main control room of the plant. He sensed a tremor in the force. A premonition of sorts. Vetrova wouldn't be taken down by mere thugs or any of his lieutenants. No if it was going to be anyone who had that honor, it would be him.

* * *

Nerman watched as his boss walked away. Things were going too quickly for his tastes. He walked over to the nearest worker. The Rodian jerked up in surprise.

Make sure you put the gas in slower. I don't want you idoits blowing us up before we are even finished. Better done right than dead." The Rodian scrambled to pass on the orders. Nerman watched in satisfaction as they unloaded the canisters with an even more cautious and mostly importantly slower pace.

He scratched his belly and mumbled to himself, "Let myself go." Stress forced him to eat much since he infiltrated the gang. If he got out of this alive, he apply for a desk job. Simple as that.


	6. Chapter 6

It's been awhile, but I got a new chapter here for you guys. I would like to thank my incredibly awesome beta Kadirika7211 for her help with this chapter. Anyway Reviews and Criticism are more than welcome. Enjoy.

* * *

It was fascinating to see the change in demeanor since Vetrova had left Ord Mantell as the woman in question made adjustments to the control panel in front them. S-Cee had taken some minor screens and scans to see how the use of the Force had affected his comrade. According to her, she had suppressed the Force inside her in order to hide her talents from the Empire. It had worked for the most part. The Empire never looked at her. Her way of taking Category six and lower bounties never really brought her into the spotlight. Watching while the scans completed, he noticed the chair she sat in wasn't the most comfortable as her constant shifting attested to. It may have been designed for a different species that wasn't human or near-human.

Of course her suppressing the Force had a downside that affected Vetrova on a mental level. Zeltrons as a species were very emotional and naturally Force-Sensitive, though it was very rare they processed the level of Force-sensitivity that would qualify them for training in the now extinct and defunct Jedi Order. Some could say that their emotions and the Force were intertwined. It would explain the Mandolorian's character over the past couple years.

Her calm and poise were now replaced by a jittery anticipation as she continued to shift in her seat while tapping her right foot on the floor as they raced the confiscated speeder transport toward the station. It was large, bulky, and abnormally armored. The Stormtrooper Captain said that it was a former Black Sun Spice Runner which they used to transport spice though enemy territory or break through Cor-Sec blockades on the planet.

As they neared the sewer plant where the Over Hounds had set up to pump some sort of ancient artillery gas into the sewer network. The single platform in the distance was covered in soot and various debris. The only signs of presence in the building was a barricade on the opposite end of the platform built from various make shift pieces of metal and old sewer pipes. Vetrova nodded to S-Cee who stood from the front passenger seat and began to go about loading the mini gun Vetrova had given him for the mission. The extra firepower would no doubt be needed to keep them operational until Captain Break's forces would swing around from the paths they had taken and reinforce the LZ.

It was an interesting plan that Crous had concocted, pumping the gas through the sewer lines they could bring down part of the massive building that made up Coruscant. Sewer lines generally connected to the framework of buildings, so with an explosive gas like whatever the Over Hounds had salvaged on Ord Mantell it would have to be very volatile. That and organics didn't take sewer lines themselves that seriously of a threat say for the more open maintenance ones that heroes in vids would use to infiltrate an enemy instillation. Such a plan could be useful later on in his career if a target was holed up in a massive complex.

S-Cee glanced over Vet as the speeder lurched ahead as it pick up speed, her knuckles grasping the steering wheel tightly. S-Cee saw that they had been marked already by the tracking systems of their missile launchers. He could see Over Hound troops mulling about the platform. Trying to get the final adjustments to their makeshift barricade up running. The Houk lieutenant seemed to be leading them, his meaty fists directing his underlings about. It seemed they had been ready for them. S-Cees scanners revealed missile launchers already aimed. Vetrova had already sprang into action pushing the speeder even faster to better dodge the homing missiles narrowing the distance between their speeder and the platform. That would make landing difficult. S-Cee locked his feet to the floor via magnets inside his boots as Vetrova shifted the speeder to and throw avoiding more rockets with the platform growing bigger and bigger making their landing more difficult.

"Wayii! The Black Suns don't mess around!" she laughed lightly as she maneuvered the heavily armored speeder transport. A missile nicked the side of speeder and threw it off course for a moment while Vetrova corrected the speeder's trajectory.

She looked back at S-Cee, "Do you think that Captain would mind if this thing went missing?" She asked curiously while avoiding an oncoming speeder. S-Cee shook his head once as he continued making adjustments to his minigun.

It was a model used in the Clone Wars, and highly illegal today like many of the weapons bounty hunters carried. With the platform in the distance rapidly approaching he stood at the ready at the sliding side door hefting his gun with ease despite his servos in his arms giving off a dull whine.

"Get ready _Vod_! We're going in! _Oya_!" She shouted out with excitement loving the thrill of the adrenaline no doubt dancing on the edge of her nerves. Vetrova called out while S-Cee simply nodded in confirmation as she swung the ship onto the landing pad. A loud screech could be heard as the struts grinded along the rectangular platform half way down the platform toward the barricade near the entrance leaving the metal gratings warped and sparks flying in its wake. S-Cee didn't wait for the ship to slow down and opened the hatch, firing before it even slid completely open, laying into the various underlings who weren't ready for such a fast attack as only a droid could deliver while he stepped out of cab of the vehicle. He kicked up dust as he landed on the durasteel platform, his aim only wavering slightly as he sprayed just over the top of the barricade.

The Houk proved much smarter than most assumed their kind to be and dived under some of the barricade's makeshift walls as S-Cee swung his weapon back and forth, laying down multiple blue blaster bolts as he stepped out of the speeder, mowing down Over Hound soldiers that where unlucky enough to be out of cover. One goon thought he could take a few pot shots poking his head over the barrier after S-Cee's bolts made their pass to the opposite side. S-Cee saw this and redirected his aim.

It was not as a bolt from the cab ended his brave action as Vetrova popped out of the speeder took cover behind S-Cee using the Droid's frame as they slowly moved up to the barricade. She popped out from behind them to shoot at various Over Hound soldiers who hoped to score a lucky shot. He heard Vetrova let out a small chuckle as she fired on a missile launcher toting Rodian who in his dying moments depressed the trigger on the weapon as he fell, killing two of his fellows in the explosion to follow. Other goons began to aim at Vet seeing her deadly aim as a bigger threat than the droids sweeping assault. Vetrova cursed in _Mand'oa_ she took a shot to her shoulder plate. S-Cee quickened his pace in an effort to narrow the gap between the empty space and the platform.

All seemed to be going well until the Houk unsheathed his massive vibrosword and charged.

"Cover me maggots!" he growled loudly to his underlings. Being out in the open like this while a charging Houk was coming for them wasn't a great scenario. He leveled his minigun at the Houk, seeing an opening his underlings would had full rain to hail blaster bolts on both he and Vetrova forcing him to resume firing on the barricade.

"I'll go make a break for the barricade and take some heat off you," Vetrova didn't wait for a response as she bolted.

He kept up his fire until the last possible moment covering her advance as the Houk aimed to bring his vibrosword down on the droid. S-Cee side stepped the Houk, but the behemoth turned very quickly for someone of his size to strike once more. S-cee was forced to use the minigun itself, quickly hefting it in place to block the blow. The minigun's frame met the straight double-edged vibroblade in a small shower of sparks.

The Houk only seemed mildly surprised that S-Cee had the strength to block his blow if the look on his face was any indication. The massive bulk was no doubt used to slicing individuals in half on the first strike. The Houk released the hold and took a step back swinging another blow with a great amount of speed and force. S-Cee didn't have time to cycle his weapon and used it to parry the sideways strike, this time however he heard something cracked and assumed the vibroblade had cracked his weapons casing rendering the weapon defunct. Another strike landed causing S-Cee feet to skid loudly as his entire body was moved with the strike.

Vetrova voice came in over the comm.

::S-Cee, I took care of most of the _di'kutla_ on the barricades, but the rest are trying to funnel me inside the plant, which probably means we're expected . I'll keep their attention. Try not get reduced to parts before Captain Break shows up. See you on the other side _vod_::

::Acknowledged:: S-Cee replied, too concerned with the Houk to fully analyze the situation Vetrova had gotten into.

His superior computing power and reaction time aided him greatly in dodging the behemoth, but only just. The servos in his arms and legs were pushed to full capacity, the dull whine they usually made replaced by a high pitched screech as the attacks took their toll. The Houk's attacks were quick as his arms probably barely felt the weight of the massive yet sleek and double-edged blade. S-Cee dodged another attack, the Houk burying it into the durasteel platform, leaving a massive divot in the platform.

Another swing ended in an explosion of metal parts his S-Cee's minigun was ultimately scattered. This forced him to parry the blows with his _beskar_ gauntlets. An undesirable outcome as while the plates on his body were made of _beskar_, near impenetrable, his frame underneath was durasteel. It made a full on block problematic as the blows would bends his frame. Analyzing the Houk's form for a weakness he found several. The sheer force and speed of the behemoth's attacks negated any counterstrike.

As he ducked a swipe and the quick follow through, S-Cee's audio receptors registered the sound of the Cor-Sec transports screaming as they came in hot. One strafed the pad laying down blaster firing on the barricade, while the other transport landed and unloaded the Stormtroopers with Captain Break among them. Half dropped to a knee while the other stood behind them firing on the barricade, every one firing to keep the defenders heads down.

Seeing the Stormtroopers firing on his men, the Houk lashed out with his fist and caught S-Cee in the chest plate, knocking the droid to the ground and actually making him skid backward a few meters along the platform with a grinding sound of metal on metal and sparks flying as he finally skidded to a halt.

The Houk then charged the Stormtroopers exiting the ship, shrugging off the blaster bolts with his armor and thick hide. He smashed into the line and went to work. Limbs flew, screams were heard with the sound of plastoid plated bodies hitting the ground. Captain Break seemed to be the only one who knew how to handle the brute by keeping his distance by trying to draw the houk away from his troops by firing upon the alien with his E-11. The trooper seemed at a loss, dealing with such a large and devastating enemy. Some broke ranks in an attempt to get a way. The ones who stayed continued to fire, but their aim became more panicked the closer he got.

S-Cee leapt to his feet and rushed to pick up a nearby E-11 blaster. The former owner's arm was still attached to the weapon as he picked it up. He turned to see the Houk lift a trooper throw him helicoptering off the platform with a final scream as he fell slamming into a speeder, ending his cries as his broken body fell down to the planets glowing surface.

S-Cee took aim and began to shoot the Houk repeatedly as the gun's trigger would allow. He missed a few times due the gun models inefficient accuracy, flying off in the distance peppering the surface of the Black Sun speeder, but most struck home on the houks chest plate. The weapon's inefficiency less than ideal as S-Cee was concerned, missing about every forth shot.

The Houk soon found himself on his own as many of his troops were dead in the surprise attack. He let out a final roar and rushed S-Cee, sword held high. S-Cee fired until his weapon clicked, triggering an overheating warning in his processes. He fired filling the houk with blaster bolts. This did little to stop the brute's charge as the brute had entered an adrenaline filled craze. S-Cee waited for the right moment, shifting his weight slowly as to not telegraph his movement in preparation for the oncoming blow. When the Houk brought down the blade, the droid sidestepped used sent an open palmed punch into the Houk's armpit. He fired the blaster inside in his palm and the multiple bolts cut deep into the Houk. The brute stumbled and fell to the ground, twitching in death rattles. The houk's body stiffened one final time before going limp. For good measure, S-Cee walked over and place two more rounds into the Houk's head three more in his chest before his palm baster clicked empty.

Captian Break walked over next to the Droid, his shiny white armor covered in dirt and grime from the platform with blood spatters peppered along his breastplate and helmet. He whistled as looked at the large houk's corpse. He bent down and prodded the houk's shoulder with his blaster. "Impressive, didn't even think a Houk could get that big. Haven't seen this exciting since the Clone Wars. Where's your partner?"

"Inside," S-Cee replied, bending to pick up the large claymore, "Lured most likely."

"Well. Let's not keep the fierfekkers waiting shall we?" The Captian began issuing orders to his men who were respectfully lining up the corpses of their comrades. One trooper even had helmet halfway off throwing up on the ground. S-Cee hazarded to guess that trooper was the one gathering limbs.

Break turned back to the Droid, "You going to fight alongside us?"

"For now," S-Cee hefted the sword in his arms, testing the weight. Satisfied that it would do, rested the massive claymore on his shoulder and marched into the plant. Stormtroopers nervously parted for him as he did so, intimidated by the blaster scores and scratches that lined his red armor plates or it may have simply been the T-visor.

He had a bounty to collect after all.

* * *

Crous watched the monitors he had set up in the main control room of the old station. The room was actually rather large, filled with empty workstations used to monitor the sewer lines. The light the stations gave off an eerie blue glow leaving most of the room in shadow giving. He sighed as he watched his plan begin to fall apart. Dorgl was dead, killed by the Mando-droid. Dorea was setting up to repel the Stormtroopers outside of the main gas hub inside, whom had invaded the base. He glared at the screen, if he didn't need the incompetent Zabrak to hold the line, he would kill her this instant. It wasn't the first time he had questioned her loyalty and commitment. Fortunately for her, she was a simple liaison to a collective of slicers in Hutt space which he employed for this job. If Slicers' liaison disappeared Crous would find himself in a nasty position as the slicers who had always remained out of his gang's network dropping of the grid.

He began watching the other feed of Vetrova or Violet as he knew her back when they were younglings. He took the time to study the Mandalorians form and technique. He remembered her always getting into trouble during practice for trying to attempt forms above her skill level, Soresu or Shien like her hero, Quinlan Vos. He saw those techniques mixed in with the many known Mandalorian techniques, third level Teres Kasi and even some he didn't recognize combining many cultures into a deadly mix. His men didn't really stand a chance and she hadn't even used up all of her fancy toys her steel colored armor possessed yet, even her lightsaber still remained holstered.

The heavy Mandalorian iron she wore was a double edged sword as well, it would block shots from blasters and even lightsaber strikes, but it was also known to be quite heavy. Even if didn't seem to hinder the Mando, no doubt due to her new yet more unstable force connection. A trained eye could still see the extra heft she put into close quarter punches, and way her blasters aim would sag when she wasn't in a fire fight. The slight, heavy breathing of her chestplate revealed that the injury she suffered back on Ord Mantell seemed to slow her down faster. An exploit Crous wisely noted for later.

He heard several pings from Dorea's comm, but he didn't answer. The arrival of the Stormtroopers was disconcerting, no doubt Vetrova figured their true location and had the Stormtroopers pull a fade. Brilliant, but he wouldn't expect less from his fellow former Jedi in-training.

He had been calling to Vetrova using the force since she arrived and she been slowly making her way to him and the trap he had set whether she was aware or not. He smiled in satisfaction, even if his plan failed he may be able to exorcise one more specter of that fateful night all those years ago. Vetrova would not walk out this place with her life.

He looked away from the screen, the stint at the café came back into his mind. Doubt flooding his thoughts for a moment, he crushed it instantly. His mind telling him, he was unprepared for such an attack, as Vetrova display was unusual for anyone wearing a T-visor on their helm. If he had known the supposed bounty hunter was force sensitive he would have taken more care during the duel. Vetrova would not have that advantage again. Her connection to the Force though wild and untamed could be problematic, but could be accounted for in the battle to come.

Looking at the screen seeing that wouldn't be long before his adversary arrived. He switched off the monitors and sat down on his knees in the center of the room. There in between the main isle of the workstations he sat waiting for his greatest challenge yet to face him. His past had come back to haunt him once more and for the final time.

* * *

Bolts from blasters seemed to be coming in multiple directions impacting on walls and Over Hound thugs alike as the Stormtroopers managed to get a foothold in the inside the sewer complex. It took heat off Vetrova for which she was thankful. Being pinned down behind a support column was than ideal. S-Cee had also sent her a text to her HUD in helmet reading that he would make his way to find the gas canisters. Vetrova sent him a reply.

::Be careful::

::Acknowledged::

She rolled her eyes at his usual generic response, while she ran down the corridor toward the main control center where Crous and the timer for the gas would no doubt be. She redoubled her speed as time was of the essence, jumping and stepping off the wall she nailed two thugs with two shots to the head. She landed not even breaking her stride, continued down the corridors. Hopefully S-Cee and Captain Break would be able to stop Nerman and Dorea from putting more gas into the lines minimizing the damage if she failed.

She ran along the wide halls killing any henchman that got in her way, which were unsurprisingly few in number. Crous had no doubt planned this, he wanted to face her himself. It made her wonder what he had planned for her. It made her slightly nervous, thinking about how his trap would play out.

She could feel him calling out through the force, taunting her with every stride she made. Her anger bubbled up and she growled as she began to pick up more speed. Time seemed to slow more as she ran, the Force coursing through her being, both Light and Dark. Every turn she skidded around held less and less minions until there were none. She slid to a halt outside what she assumed the Master Control hub for the entire old sewer system. The faded letters above the door barely spelled out: **Control Center.**

Feeling Crous' presence inside confirming her assumption, her fingers were about to touch the pad to open the door when it slid open of its own accord. Her left hand flung up instinctually, pointing her blaster into the room. She hesitated a moment, unsure of what ever kind of trap Crous had planned for her once she stepped through. Taking a cautious step in, she noticed the room held many desks and workstations for monitoring control of the sewage. Lights on almost every console could be seen as they flickered and some even spouted the occasional spark, a product of dereliction and repurposing. The plastoid divider walls between stations were cracked or plain broke off like someone took a club to them.

Seated in his knees in the main isle of the computers a figure sat, casting a long shadow almost reaching were Vet stood. The light from the monitors behind him obscured the view of his face in shadow. His long hair was tied back, bowing his head slightly while his eyes were closed shut as he meditated. He wore tan battle suit not unlike what the Jedi used to wear during the Clone Wars. This suit seemed modified with his gang logo in the right shoulder and to hold more items including a blaster and a couple of other tools.

She stepped into the room the door slamming shut behind her, echoing throughout the small chamber. A small sense of trepidation filled her as she stood there seemingly unmoved by the display. Vetrova walked a few more steps before stopping about a meter from where the figure meditated.

"How noble of you. Swooping in to save Coruscant, home the very same Empire that was founded on the bones of dead Jedi." Crous sarcastically stated, his voice seemed amplified as it echoed of the walls of the room. The sneer on his face barely visible. Vetrova merely crossed her arms as he continued.

"To think I once called you sister."

Vetrova could feel him trying to force her react. She refused to take his bait and wait for him to monologue like in those villains in the holovids they used to sneak watch in the temple because the older Jedi deemed them too violent for younglings. She almost wanted to smile at the memories of being tightly huddled around one bunk watching a single screen with her friends. Ironically her Mandalorian parents, her father in particular, would sit down next to her as they watched the holovids, even pointing out the flaws in the fight scenes. _"These are a good learning tool…" _he would say,_ "of what not to do in a fight. I mean what's with all the spinning, completely unnecessary!"_

"You're not the only one haunted by that day Crous," she saw his posture stiffened and he glared at her like her using his name was an insult. "I remember it like it was yesterday. The day the smoke rolled off the temple, the dark Jedi that chased us off the grounds forcing us into the dark corners of the city."

She took a cautious step forward, "I was the one you all followed when we escaped. I had the most experience in this type of environment." She gestured around her taking another cautious step forward.

"It was my fault that others didn't make it and I relive it every day. Every time I dream I see them dying."

Vet had a hard time keeping herself together, her returning emotions having a negative effect of almost overwhelming her. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She was almost to him now, just one more step.

"What could I have done differently? Why didn't I lead you right instead of left? The only way I could escape the guilt was to shut myself away, but these last few days have been more freeing than ever despite the circumstances, because now I know that there was nothing I could do. Nothing we could do. The Jedi's fall was their own doing in the choices they made and the Sith's machinations."

Crous seemed to relax more as he looked up to Vetrova who held up her hand. She could see the mental debate raging within like he wanted to stop all this as his features were scrunched together while biting his lip. She could feel his twisting emotions, swirling black fog consuming all light as it washed over the surface. He looked away for a moment and then back to her with a cruel smile. A chill ran down her spine as she saw his eyes take on a sickly yellow shade.

"You fool!" he lashed out at her bring his lightsaber to bear forcing her a couple steps back, pointing it at her while he stood taking a Makashi stance, one of the most dangerous lightsaber forms and specifically designed for duels with a single opponent. "Do I look like I care about your guilt. I just want them to pay tenfold for every Jedi soul they took that day. I want them to watch helplessly as those they claim to protect are massacred just like how we watched our friends die. I want them to remember that we are not all gone"

She felt only despair as her old friend fell into madness, replaced by something darker, something malevolent. Without even realizing it her own lightsaber flew into her hand and she ignited it. Grasping it firmly she fell into a Soresu stance which focused on defense. A silver lining emerged in her mind something born of her Mandalorian upbringing. It gave her a clearer goal allowing her to relax the tension her body had been feeling. _You tried, but he is as crazy as a drug addled shriekhawk. Bring him down and turn'im in. _She grasped her lightsaber firmly in both hands.

Vet felt his confidence, and his resolve to see her dead and his plans carried out.

"This will be over quickly," he arrogantly claimed before he charged.


End file.
